Beauty and the Beast
by NixiexGrey
Summary: A boy and girl enter the Institute library; one beseeching, the other turning the left cheek. The bell tolls midnight and a transformation happens. What is to happen when both are locked inside the library?
1. Chapter 1

All right, it's about 1:50 around where I'm from but I'm too tired to do anything about it but write. This is a one-shot idea I got randomly before I got to bed so I'm writing it all down right now and then going to post it up and, hopefully, it has no actual serious errors. One-shot, and if it's good enough–and with enough good feedback–I might actually finish this! Be warned: I tend to write like I'm on crystal meth when I'm cracked out tired. You were warned…

"Clarissa Fairchild, you better stop walking if you want to ever use those skinny little legs of yours again!" Jace barked, storming after her as she ran into the Institute library.

Despite his command, Jace was surprised that she actually stopped and whirled around in time for him to catch himself, just barely avoiding a nasty collision.

"What?" she snapped at him, her one word cutting him deeper than a seraph blade could. "What could you possibly want to tell me now at a time like this to make me feel better? That you got distracted and just barely swooped in on time to save me before that Raum demon killed me?"

Jace winced. That _was_ what happened, but the way she spat it at him made it seem much worse than it really was. If only she would let him explain himself… "Clary, just please let me–"

"Let you what? Waste more of my precious time so that you could try to defend yourself?" Clary paused and took a deep breath to steady herself. She strolled over to the red plush chair near the fireplace and plopped down, reveling in the floating-on-air feeling and finally giving her legs a break. Jace was hard to outrun and she was no track-star. She watched as Jace took the chair opposite her but didn't protest.

"I'm sorry," Jace began, figuring Clary was giving him the opportunity to humor her. "It's just…lately, I've been distracted." Jace didn't flinch when Clary snorted. "I don't know what's wrong with me, but for some reason, I got a feeling that something big is about to happen and I can't seem to keep focus on anything but that. It's something that's been always sent to the back of my mind, never thought more of except in the worse opportune moments. I'm sorry, Clary. You've got to understand me, please. I'm a victim to my mind," he added with a wink.

Clary felt her face flush despite herself and raised her chin. "You aren't forgiven. Jace, I could've _died_. My life was at stake and right when I needed you the most, you weren't there for me. Had Alec or Isabelle been there to pick up the slack, I would've been fine with it. More than, actually. But no one was with us and like I said, I could've died. Jace, some things aren't easily forgivable."

With that said, she stood up and gave Jace a backward glance. "I'm leaving you some time alone, Jace. So you better take advantage of this time to think about that 'stormy front' of yours, okay? Get back to me when you're done with your musings."

But as soon as Clary approached the massive library doors, something felt…off. The moment her fingers brushed the handle, an icy shock shot up her arm and she jerked her hand away. "What the…?"

Jace was at her side in seconds and he reached for the doorknob the same way she did. But the second his hand closed around the doorknob, he was gone. Clary whipped around frantically in time to see Jace soaring through the air until he crashed into the giant oak desk with the two angels carrying the great table on their backs, identical grim expressions on their faces. Clary stared back and forth from a groaning Jace to the massive doors until it finally clicked: a Locking rune. Someone placed a rune on the door to keep them confined into the library. Desperate to get out, Clary proceeded to pound her fists against the door, screaming for anyone to hear her.

"Clary?" She immediately halted when she heard Alec calling her from the other side. "Clary, stop it!"

She froze. "Alec, please help us! Jace and I are–"

"I know," he cut in. "And I'm the one who put the rune on the door, so you can quit kicking and screaming."

"_What?"_ she shrieked. "Why in the Angel's name would you ever do something so stupid like–"

"Listen to me," Alec barked, taking both Clary and Jace off-guard. "I am so sick of you two bickering back and forth the way you do, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that. I love you Jace, like a brother, and I respect you Clary, but if I got to lock both of you into a room to get you two to talk, then so be it."

"Alec you're being–"

"Difficult?" Alec laughed derisively. "Then what does that make you two?"

Clary flinched; never had it crossed her mind that maybe her presence around Jace affected everyone around them. Jace was rendered silent, too stunned to come up with something cocky or witty to say.

"What are we going to do?" Clary whined, sinking to her knees when Alec's receding footfalls disappeared.

"You heard the man," Jace jeered. "We're going to talk this out until we are so in love with each other, everyone else will puke sunshine and butterflies."

"Fantastic," Clary said, her lip curled in disgust. "And just how do you plan on doing that?"

But before Jace could answer, the tiled floors began to vibrate under her feet, causing her to lose her balance even though she was already sitting down. The vibrations didn't stop there; the walls around them were shaking in place with such intensity that Clary feared the entire Institute was going to collapse. But that wasn't what scared her the most; what did was the look of unadulterated fear in Jace's eyes.

"It's midnight," he whispered, loud enough for Clary to hear over the bell's tolling. But that was the last thing he said before he dropped to his knees as if he'd taken a blow to his back and began to writhe as if he were experiencing excruciating pain. Then the screaming happened. It was the scream of anguish–of a pain so great it was all consuming–and it was coming right from Jace.

"Jace!" Clary cried as she swooped in to look at him. But he threw his arms out in front of him as a way of holding her back and wound up striking fear to her very core when she saw blue and purple veins lacing every bit of skin possible. "Jace, please!"

But when he finally lowered his hands, what lay in front of her whimpering and twitching about held no resemblance whatsoever to the boy she once loved, the boy named Jace.

Rate and review! I'm not sure I want to continue this, really, since my heart isn't all that into it. It was a good one-shot, I'd like to think, so please tell me your theories and I might tell you what happened to Jace :)


	2. Chapter 2

So I just saw Legion today and I'll admit, it was more epic than I'd expect it to be–although it could do better without my snide remarks according to my boyfriend (for example, "wow, if all waitresses in the world who work in bumblefuck towns like Charlie were bearing mini baby Jesuses necessary to save all humanity from the Apocalypse, they definitely deserve a better tip than just 15% tax"). I'd beg to differ on that one, but I'll let it go for now. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. First off, I'd like to–no, _love_ to –thank the two people who have helped me a lot with fanfiction and in general, are really awesome badass mofos you really should get to know better who I think write better than me. Yes, if you haven't figured it out already, I'm talking about **Kisstherain14** and **Thunderboltsandlightning**. No, I didn't pay them to promote my stories or whatever (they offered first! It was a money-exchange-free agreement! -cough excuses cough-), which I found to be very…warming, to say the least. So I'm offering this extra chapter for them, in thanks of what they've done. Cheers to the two of you! And for the rest of you, you all suck. I'm just kidding, without you guys, this whole fanfiction thing would've never happened and I thank all of you for not having social lives so you can spend more time reading these stories than hanging out :) I kid, but in all seriousness, thanks you guys. I digress, so long story short: **ENJOY!**

"Alec?" Isabelle's voice was laced with concerned. He turned around so that he was facing her; she was sitting on her bed, her knees drawn to her angular chin, her ink black hair pouring down her back like a waterfall. "I really don't think locking them up was a good idea…"

"I don't either," Alec admitted, plucking up a stray article of clothing off the chair near her vanity and dragging it to the bed. He spun it around and straddled it, resting his elbows on the chair's back and cupping his face in his hands. "But I'm so sick of their fighting, I think all they need is time and a place where they can finally settle their differences, and locking them up seems to be a good idea since they now neither of them can have a drama contest to see who has the most impressive storm-out."

"It's not _that_," Izzy hesitated–something she never did in her life, something that set Alec on-edge. She ran her hands through her hair and began to toy with a knotted strand idly. "It's just…remember what happened two weeks ago? At Magnus' party?"

Alec scrunched up his face as he tried to remember the party…then he did. "Oh, that hedge witch that tried and failed to get Jace to stop harassing her? What about her?"

"She tried casting a spell on him," Izzy whispered. "We all saw it. There were hot pink sparks but when nothing happened, Jace made even more fun of her for being a phony."

"Yeah, but why are you bringing this up now?" Alec asked impatiently. "Just tell me, Izzy. Stop beating around the–"

"I think that maybe whatever spell she cast on him is going to come true tonight," Izzy blurted out. "I've never seen hot pink sparks before so I did a lot of research these past two weeks that linked the sparks to an ancient transformation spell."

Isabelle hopped off her bed and strode over to her vanity, picked up a scrap piece of paper and held it out for Alec. It had a bunch of things scribbled out on all over the page but the words on the bottom stuck out the most:

FORTNIGHT=TWO WEEKS

SYMPTOMS: DELUSIONS LEAD TO DISTRACTION, ERRATIC BEHAVIOR, HOT FLASHES

TRANSFORMATION=IRREVERSIBLE UNLESS WITCH WANTS TO CHANGE IT BACK

CURE=UNKNOWN

"Izzy," Alec's voice was wavering. "Why didn't you show me this _earlier_?"

"He wasn't showing any signs!" Izzy yelled. "And I just pieced it all together last night."

"Jace is _Jace_," Alec felt like screaming at his sister for being so stupid, but he knew it was pointless. "He won't show weakness unless he's bleeding his heart out on the floor and even then he'd rather die than show us any sign of pain."

"Then stop yelling at me and take that damn Locking rune off the door," Izzy shot back, but Alec was already moving by the time she finished yelling.

Izzy caught up to Alec right as he withdrew his stele and watched as he completed the rune with a line going straight through its center, canceling it out. Once the door flew open, Izzy and Alec took a hesitant step forward, unsure of what they would find. But what they did find shocked them both down to the very core, rendering them speechless.

A few feet away stood a deformed purple blob that held barely any resemblance to a human at all, but the blond hair that surrounded his feet said it all.

"Jace," Izzy whispered, too weak to raise her voice. "What _happened_ to you?"

A sudden wail alerted the siblings that they weren't alone and their hands went to their weapons simultaneously. But when Izzy spotted a familiar redhead a few inches away from Jace, she grabbed her brother's hand, stopping him from drawing his seraph blade.

"It's all my fault," Clary wailed. "He was trying to tell me something and I didn't let him so he just turned into–turned into…_that_." She spat the last word and threw an accusing finger at Jace, who twitched in response.

"It's not your fault," he warbled, just barely intelligible. He sounded as if he were talking with his head underwater. "Clary, I don't know how this happened but–"

"But I do," Izzy interrupted, her heart sinking lower into her stomach with every fleeting second. "Jace, do you remember that hedge witch from Magnus' party? The one you kept pestering until she flung some sparks your way?"

Izzy tried to keep the bile down that rose when one of Jace's eyelid-less eyeballs rolled around. "What about her?"

"She did this to you. She cursed you because you kept pushing her buttons. Jace, this was going to happen sooner or later because of your cockiness and look where it got you. You did this to yourself, really."

"Stop talking to him like that!" Clary said defensively, getting up to her feet. "And how do you know all this? Maybe she threw some sparks and that was that?"

"I did my research," Izzy said, keeping her eyes on Jace. "But Jace never told me he was having delusions, seeing things that weren't there that distracted him every now or then. Nor did he tell me that he was being more volatile with his emotions that a girl right before she menstruates. He kept this away from everyone because his ego meant more to him than anything else."

Clary shot a desperate look at Jace, but he didn't look at her. He couldn't; everything Izzy was saying was true and it tore him up inside–and showed on the outside. Unbeknownst to him, every flicker of pain he felt showed up on the paper-thin membrane that kept all his guts in place with a new tear on its surface.

"Jace," Izzy's voice had just a slight tinge of pleading in it. "Please, just listen to me. We need to take you to that witch again. She can help us, can help _you_. Please."

"And what makes you think she can help us?" he snarled at her. "She was the one who did this to me in the first place, so whatever ideas of begging for repentance you have, you can just roll them into a ball and throw it into whatever you're cooking for dinner tonight. I heard stupidity adds quite the flavor to anything."

"Jace," Clary snapped at him. "She's right; at this point, I'm pretty sure the only person who can help you is that witch…but why not Magnus?"

"Because this is an_ ancient_ spell," Izzy said with a hint of impatience. "I've done my research, _like I said before_. In all the old wizarding books, they all said that this is some sort of evil transformation hex rarely practiced because of its side effects. Only its castor can take it away, but even so the castor must know what he or she is doing or else it can have major fatal blowback."

"Blowback?" echoed Clary, Jace and Alec with identical questioning looks.

"The draining effect of using too much magic," Izzy explained. "Magnus can do pretty amazing things, but how does it make him feel afterwards? Like shit. Because the more powerful the spell, the more draining it is. And for this spell, the blowback is major and if done wrong, can lead to fatality."

"I don't get it," Clary mused out loud. "Why would some dumb hedge witch want to mess with Jace? I mean, he is belligerent"–Clary rolled her eyes when Jace shot her a dirty look–"but not to the extent where your only other option is to cast some sort of ancient spell that could possibly kill you from the blowback. That's like, suicidal."

"Not to mention completely moronic," Jace chimed in. "And maybe it's because she was driven by jealousy and hatred, knowing that there was no way in hell she'd ever get me to be her boyfriend with _those_ warts."

"_Jace!"_ Izzy shrieked. "Right now is _so_ not the time to discuss her skin issues, especially when she's your only way out of this!"

"It's never the time to discuss skin issues, if you think about it," Alec mused. He gave Izzy an apologetic shrug. "But Izzy is right. We need to train you how to kiss up and real fast if we want to stop this…" Alec waved his hand at Jace "…to all go away."

"And fast," Izzy grimaced. "Because aside the fact that you're about as attractive as a Ravener demon turned inside out, I think that this 'transformation' might kill you–if the hedge witch doesn't try to kill you first."


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, so because you all asked nicely, I will add another chapter but the same principles apply here: don't expect daily updates. It just so happens I had nothing to do today since I woke up early today (what a sin for the summer) due to a weird groaning noise coming from my attic that freaked me out and continues to do so as I type this. It might just be the wind, but who knows? I'm too chicken-shit scared to do anything about it. Moving on, another principle applies here: you read it, you review it. I feed off feedback and you, the readers, get to POSSIBLY influence a story set in motion as it's been written. How awesome is that? "With great power comes great responsibility." So enough said, let's get to the story!

"I'd rather die a slow and painful death than talk to that bitch witch again," Jace had spat in protest. But that was before Alec punched Jace square in the face, rendering him unconscious. Now, Jace was sprawled on the Institute Library's tile floor oozing some blackish liquid from his nose.

"Fantastic," Izzy threw her hands up in anguish. _"Fan-freakin'-tastic!"_ She whipped around and proceeded to storm out of the Library, Alec hot on her heels.

"Izzy!" Clary heard Alec shout from a distance. "Where are you going?"

"To my room! I left something there…"

Once the voices disappeared, Clary got down on her hands and knees and crawled as close as her body allowed her to Jace. She stopped just inches away from his feet, too scared to get any closer. She was mad at herself for experiencing a wave of nausea that hit her as her eyes fell on the creature that was once the boy she loved so much.

_He still is_, a small voice whispered inside her head. _Isn't it shallow of you to assume that just because he isn't gorgeous, he isn't Jace anymore? You're no better than he once was if you think that once beauty is lost, all is lost._

"But he isn't human," Clary whispered back, yearning laced in her voice.

"I am," the creature before her rasped, coughing up some of the black fluid that trailed out of his nostrils. Clary couldn't hold back the scream that came out of her mouth and felt ashamed once it did. Jace winced, but did nothing to stop her. Instead, he waited for her to stop herself before speaking again.

"Clary, I'm sorry for not telling you before," he mumbled. "I just thought I had a fever or something for a day, but then it came back today worse than ever and the hallucinations…" He winced. "Well, they were always there. Little flickers of shadow that played on the periphery of my vision, but whenever I turned to face them, they would disappear.

"I thought I was going mad, to be honest," Jace's mouth twitched into an attempt of a smile and dropped. "And when you stormed off away from me, I felt like my blood was swapped for fire and I was burning from the inside out. Every nerve ending in my body was going haywire, but all I could think about was you. Clary, it's not your fault–it's mine. I'm sorry for hiding this from you, I just didn't piece that witch with what was happening to me and I guess I overlooked it. Please"–he moved to sit up and winced, but managed–"forgive me. Out all of that's happened, I'm not surprised all I can think about is you before anything else."

"You're forgiven," Clary whispered hoarsely. She hesitated at first, but then opened up her arms and pulled Jace into a tight embrace, not letting go even if he smelled like a rotting corpse and was still oozing that disgusting blackish liquid.

"_Clary!"_

But it was too late. The blackish liquid that was oozing out of Jace got onto Clary, and the moment it touched her flesh, she screamed. The fluid attached itself to her skin and began to eat right through it, tearing her flesh apart faster than a flesh-eating virus. Try as she might, Clary couldn't tear herself away from Jace; wherever her skin touched his, they were attached. To her horror, she saw the look of realization cross Jace's face and together, they sobbed.

"Alec!" Izzy cried in hysteria. "What are we going to _do_?"

But Alec didn't answer; he withdrew his seraph blade and took a step forward, a grimace on his face. The longer he stared, trying to calculate where Jace ended and Clary started, the more attached they became until all that was in front of him was a pale and purplish blob with two heads attached to it–a redheaded female and a bald indistinct male.

"You will do _nothing_," a voice boomed from behind them. Clary, Jace, Alec and Izzy turned their heads at the same time to see a tall figure standing in the doorway, a much smaller figure at his feet. Hidden by the shadows, no one was able to put a face to the voice except for Alec. He recognized the second the person spoke.

"Magnus!" Alec broke into a sprint and collapsed into the wizard. He held him in his arms for a second longer before breaking the embrace and took a step back. "You came," he breathed.

"You sound like you doubted I would show up for you," Magnus cooed, his hand now cupping his lover's cheek affectionately. "Of course I would come, Alec."

Magnus dropped his hand despite the lost-puppy-now-found look in Alec's eyes and cleared his throat. "Now," he bellowed, the bass in his voice echoing throughout the Library. "Time to address the matter at hand, Miss Clair Voyant."

He shoved the little person in front of him, catching her off-guard and causing her hood to fall back, revealing her face. Despite the warts on her face, she had potential to be beautiful with her delicate looks and wide eyes with shocking pink irises that matched her bob cut hair. She looked to be no more than twelve, but there was an air about her that set Clary on edge.

"Miss Clair Voyant?" Izzy snorted. She reached for her bracelet and lashed her whip out so it uncoiled just inches away from the tiny witch's face. Miss Voyant, however, wore an impassive expression with just a hint of boredom on her face. "What is she doing here?"

"Why don't you tell her yourself?" Magnus jeered, nudging her forward.

The witch gave Magnus a dirty look and cleared her throat before speaking. "I'm the one who cast the spell on the boy," she said in a high reedy voice. "As he very well deserved it for the way he was acting."

"He didn't deserve it," Izzy hissed, the electrum whip coiling on the ground like a live serpent. "He did nothing that deserved such a severe punishment and you know that."

"Do I?" Miss Voyant tittered, clearly amused. "And what else do I know? That you like to go on foolish dalliances with others outside your kind as well as your taboo brother? That regardless of the fact that your friend over there"–she gestured with a wave to Jace–"thought his love was his sister, regarded her in a way that one would regard someone outside of bloodline? You _all_ disgust me in the ways you break the rules and get away with it, so yes, I do think you deserve what you got."

Clary felt her cheeks flare up and wanted to wipe that smirk off that tiny witch's face, despite the situation.

"So why were you hitting on me at the party, then?" Jace asked, a devilish smile threatening to wash over his features. "I mean, it's one thing to hate us for being the epitome of taboo, but another to want to join in on all the fun."

"Fun?" The witch looked horrified. _"Fun?_ I only wanted to get close enough to lay the spell on you, stupid little boy."

"Oh, so that's your excuse," Jace sneered. "For a second, I thought you just wanted to get close enough to touch me. I would've accepted that as well."

"Don't flatter yourself," the witch crinkled her nose. "You already have enough bad blood for lusting after your almost sister."

"She's not my sister!" Jace spat. But when the witch gave Jace a Cheshire cat smile, he suddenly went very still and blood began to pour out of his mouth.

"Stop!" Clary shrieked, desperately wanting to break free of the mold she was in. Even though she wanted to be close enough to help Jace, being attached to him while he was dying wasn't useful in the slightest and sent fear down her spine–if it was still just hers.

"I wouldn't try and tell me what to do," the witch said coldly. "He's tested my patience as it is and as you can see, I have very little to spare. You want out of this situation, listen to what I have to say, but if you ever try to defy me, you will wish you had never had the ability to in the first place."

When no one uttered a single word, the witch smiled, pleased with herself. She let her eyelids droop and raised her hands high above her head and chanted:

"_The one you all thought was dead,_

_The one who sent images of fear and pain to your head,_

_Now has another man in his stead,_

_A much greater, powerful one born to lead."_

The temperature in the room suddenly got colder and it took Clary a moment to realize that a gust of wind from the outside had poured into the room, blowing out all the candles in its way. The Library was left hollow, devoid of all its familiar warmth and comfort. Suddenly, the air above the witch's splayed out hands began to shimmer, a holographic image began to appear. It was indistinct at first, but then the face began more distinct; high cheekbones, angular jaw line and finally, two piercing cold eyes that stared back with unadulterated malice.

It took a second or two after the image was well developed before anyone reacted. Izzy collapsed to her knees and Alec went to her aid; Magnus swore under his breath and Clary cried out, but Jace was the only one who was brave enough to utter his name: "Sebastian."


	4. Chapter 4

**So I'm sitting here, just finished reviewing Thunderboltsandlightning's "Entrapment" and I must say, it was very well written. Check it out, definitely! Moving on, I just felt like adding in another chapter and I hope you all read and review it! Give me your honest opinions because I love hearing them :)**

"So let me get this straight," Izzy seethed, her grip tightening on her whip. "Sebastian sent you to get rid of Jace? For what reason?"

Miss Voyant shrugged. "I do not ask my customers of their intentions. Doesn't make for good business practices if you get too nosy."

"How much did he pay you?" Jace yelled. "What did he bribe you with to do something so irreversible? And why couldn't he just pay you to flat out kill me?"

"He's a torture aficionado," Miss Voyant leered. "And I happen to specialize in that department. He said I was allowed to do whatever I wanted and in turn, I'll get the high representative chair for warlocks once he takes over the Clave. So I consulted my spell book and found one spell that happened to catch my attention, one I had never done before–and trust me, you'll hear that very few times around me."

"_You?"_ Magnus said incredulously, the glitter hovering around him suddenly stilling in mid-air. "To represent _all_ witches and warlocks? You must be daft to think we'd elect you to represent _us._"

"I am three centuries older than you'll ever be," Miss Voyant snapped at Magnus.

"And yet you look like you don't know what the word 'puberty' means nor how to spell it," he shot back. "You are as crazy as they say. You know, I've heard werewolves tell their cubs bedtime horror stories about you, but I never once thought I'd ever get to see you in my lifetime–and let me tell you, those werewolves were _not_ lying."

"Enough!" Alec cried, snapping the center of attention onto himself. He caught and held onto Miss Voyant's gaze. "And you are positive there is absolutely no way we can bid you a higher price to get you to reverse this spell?"

The witch simply shook her head.

"Nothing at all?" Alec pleaded. "Please, everyone has their price and this is not just my best friend and his girlfriend we're talking about here. These are the two of the most powerful Shadowhunters you'll ever meet in your lifetime; both have more Angel blood running through their veins than any other Shadowhunter out there. Now I know Sebastian has more demon blood in him, but think about how the world will be once he is in power. He has _demon_ blood inside of him. He will tell you a lie straight to your face to get what he wants because he will stop at nothing until he is satisfied. Are you sure you want to take your chances with him ruling than with the Clave ruling?"

The witch scrunched up her face as she contemplated Alec's words. "But you will run off and tell the Clave all that I have done to you," she said slowly. "And why wouldn't you? I placed an illegal spell on him, so I could very well be put to death for it. I won't do it."

"And what if we don't tell the Clave what you've done?" Jace interrupted, startling everyone else. His words were slurred, less intelligible than ever. "What if we swear an oath on the Angel to not tell? Will you help us then?"

The witch's bird-like gaze went from Jace to Alec to everyone else before settling back to Jace. "All right," she sneered. "But you _all_ must swear or else I won't reverse it." There was a low mumbling of agreement and the witch smiled, satisfied. "So do it!"

"I, Alec Lightwood…"

"…Swear on the Angel Raziel…"

"…And all the angels in heaven…"

"…That I will not utter a single word to the Clave that…"

"…Miss Clair Voyant committed a crime…."

Clary caught onto only strands of the oath as it came out in different cadences and octaves from different sources and finished just as everyone else had. Except for Magnus. And she wasn't the only one who noticed this.

"Ahem," Miss Voyant coughed loudly, clearly trying to get Magnus' attention.

"Gesundheit!" Magnus replied, a smirk on his lips.

"Why weren't you swearing?"

"Because I'm not of Angel descent," Magnus stated matter-of-factly. "I'm a warlock. We don't make oaths that we can't break. It's our job to break oaths that others make and like you, we all get paid for it. That's how it works."

But what Miss Voyant said next struck home. "Swear on Lilith." Those three words wiped the impassive expression off Magnus' face, something no one has ever seen happen before, including Alec. Magnus openly gaped at Miss Voyant, but said nothing.

"It's quite amusing," the witch smiled, "very entertaining, actually, how you think that you can outsmart your elders. As I've said before, I've been around for quite some time, longer than you have, and yet you still think you can worm your way around me. Now do as I say or your friends will die in vain."

Magnus stared from Alec to the twitchy blob that was Clary and Jace, a pained expression on his face that made him appear years older. Alec could see that Magnus was close to cracking and took a step closer, his hand folding around Magnus'. "Please," Alec begged, forcing Magnus to look at him. "For Jace and Clary. For me."

Magnus stared a moment longer and then spoke, his eyes on Alec the entire time. "I swear"–he said slowly, his voice not his own, rather thousands of voices channeling through his body–"on Lilith, the great bearer of all warlocks and witches, that I, Magnus Bane, will not breathe a single word to the Clave of Miss Clair Voyant's foul act on the children of the Angel Raziel and Ithuriel so long as she keeps her oath to help the children out by repealing her curse on them."

"There," Miss Voyant smiled sweetly. "That wasn't too hard, was it?"

Magnus collapsed onto his knees, his cat eyes wider than ever right as a single lightning bolt flashed outside followed by a loud rumbling that reverberated within the Institute. "Magnus!" Alec cried out as he bent over to help the warlock. _"Magnus!"_

But it was pointless; the warlock's eyes had a glassy look to them and his chest wasn't rising or falling the way it did when he was alive.

Only, this wasn't the only thing that caused an outcry in the Institute Library. A few feet away from the felled warlock were the now separated Clary and Jace, fully restored to normalcy–if there was such a thing. Clary gasped, more than relieved to have her own body back and felt her heart soar when she recognized the blond haired boy next to her as he reached out and kissed her.

"Jace! Clary!" Izzy screamed. "Magnus is–he's…"

"Now I see my work here has been done," Miss Voyant whispered to no one in particular before turning into a flume of smoke and disappearing.

**How's that for a twister? GIVE ME YOUR REVIEWS AND I MIGHT UPDATE THIS ONE!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Just out of curiosity, who here has listened to Adam Lambert's new song "If I Had You"? The first verse alone ("So I got my boots on, Got the right amount of leather and I'm doing me up with a black colored liner…") screams Magnus, no? Getting to the story at hand, yes, this is another update! I had a short brain-fart but thankfully there were no serious consequences. I'm updating and I hope you all return the favor by reading and reviewing!**

"Magnus!" Alec whimpered, pausing every now and then to upchuck his dinner. "Maggie, Maggie…" His sobs had died down about an hour ago and were replaced with hiccups and whimpering. He had the warlock's head on his lap and was gently stroking the ink black hair similar to Izzy's, vaguely aware that every time he pulled his hands away, glitter covered him all the way up to the elbows. But he didn't care; his entire world was falling apart and all that he had left was the glitter on his body to remind him of his past.

"Alec," Izzy cooed. She stood right behind him and was stroking his hair just as he was doing to Magnus, except her tears had dried up whereas Alec was unsure the flood would ever end. _Magnus, the love of my life…_

"Oh Jace," Clary cried as she buried her face deeper into Jace's chest. She didn't love Magnus as much as Alec did, but she loved the warlock like a brother and felt the pain just as much as Alec did.

Alec wasn't aware of how much time had passed, but before he knew it, Izzy and Jace had forced him to his feet while the adults poured into the room, identical masks of shock and horror clear on their faces. Robert and Maryse stopped in front of Alec and when he ran into their arms, they began to cry in unison.

It was easily one of the saddest moments Clary had witnessed in a while. Immediately, she was brought back to the Accords hall and saw before her the same arrangement as back then; The Lightwoods huddled over a lost member with Jace just on the outskirts. But this time, he held her in his arms with such a tight grasp, she began to lose all feeling in her arms where his hands encircled them. She knew he was only holding onto her that way because he was scared of losing her as well–that much was clear from the look in his eyes–but the thing was, regardless of the fact that he was hurting her, she didn't want him to let go. She wanted him to press her against himself so tightly, they would mold together again, only because it meant that she could never be separated from him the way Magnus was torn away from Alec.

Hours later after the Lightwoods ceremoniously covered the body and stored it in the weapons room since it was temperature regulated so that they could have a proper burial the next day, Alec found sleep completely out of reach. The longer he tossed and turned in his bed, the more impatient he got.

Usually, when he had sleeping problems, Alec would ask Magnus for a sleeping potion via some sort of telepathy that Magnus had installed in his brain. Alec felt the pain pluck at his heart like a harp and turned over to his side where he conveniently placed a garbage bag in case he felt nauseous. He felt the bile make its way up to his throat but couldn't find it in himself to actually puke. So he swallowed it down, despite his stomach's protests, and kicked off the sheets, given up on sleep.

He padded to the door, took a deep breath and decided to let his feet wander to clear his mind. He made it down the hallway and was about to turn the corner when he suddenly collided with a soft wall that went _"oomph!"_

"What the–?" The other person grabbed Alec's shoulders and he stopped resisting when he realized it was Jace. Alec sagged in Jace's hands and if it weren't for Jace, Alec would've fallen flat on his face.

"Have you gotten any sleep at all?" Jace asked, forcing Alec's bobbing head to stay up so he could examine his face. "You look horrible."

"Thanks, Jace. I can always count on getting a compliment from you," Alec snapped, but his heart wasn't all that into it.

"I wasn't finished," Jace said softly. "I was going to say that if you need anyone to talk to, you know I'm here for you always." The corner of Jace's mouth quirked up a little, which oddly enough reminded Alec of Ma–

"Thanks," Alec replied hastily, ducking out from under Jace's arms. "But I just want some time to just clear my head, you know?"

"Understood" was all Jace said, clapping him on the shoulder before he left. And for some reason, Alec had a feeling that Jace did actually understand–more than he anticipated. And that scared him the most. They were _parabati_ after all, so he wasn't too surprised when Jace basically read his mind every now and then. But that didn't mean it didn't scare him when Jace's assumptions were right.

Alec continued on his way when he stopped in front of the weapons room. It was as if there was a magnet on the other side of the door that was opposite the magnet inside of Alec that was drawing him in like a fish on a hook. Before he knew it, his hand was closing on the doorknob and he was sliding through, as silent as a cool breeze.

It was clear from the sudden biting cold that the weapons room had been set up to accommodate a dead body the moment Alec slid in. He glanced around the room until his eyes found the metal table set in the middle of the room, a single lamp overhead being the only source of light in the entire room. It was a fluorescent bulb, so it had a draining effect on the sleek steel metal inside the room that gleamed where the light touched it.

Alec sucked in his breath when he realized that the body was placed on top of the table, the table where he and all the other Shadowhunters made their weapons or discussed their strategies for whatever demon hunt they were about to do. In the back of his mind, Alec wondered if they did this with every dead body in an Institute.

He took a step forward and before he knew it, he was standing in front of the table, his hand outstretched and hovering right above the cloth that covered the lifeless body in front of him. _What are you doing? _He paused. _You only know that once you see it, his death is forever sealed in stone. Do you want to do that to yourself? See him lying there, cold and lifeless?_

Alec sighed and shook his head. But as he was about to withdraw his hand, the cloth twitched under it and suddenly, a pale hand reached out and grabbed onto his hand. Alec froze, too stunned to do anything. Slowly, the cloth fell away as the body underneath it sat up. The warlock sitting in front of Alec pulled his hand back to run his fingers through his matted hair, Alec staring at him wide-eyed and silent the entire time.

Finally, as if he'd just realized someone was there with him, Magnus looked at Alec. "Well?" he demanded. "Aren't you going to greet your boyfriend?"

Alec took a step back and turned his head in time to spew his guts on the floor.


End file.
